Monday, September 28, 2009

As you can imagine this depresses me in a myriad of ways. :) Thus, RBL repeat. (Yeah, I wear them a lot, but I promise that I won't do this all the time I repeat a polish).

This is two coats--I don't know about incredibly amazing manicurists, but the first coat is always kind of streaky and the second coat is always smooth and amazing for me. Recycle is the most painless out of the RBLs I know, but I can't say anything about its wear--for one, it's a dark color and would show chips far more than, say, Grunge.

That said--it's an amazing color. As you can see, it never looks black--dark, yes, but never black. I also like how (Ji Baek says this is jewel-like, and I agree) that it seems to vary in shade depending on the light: it flashes true green in the sunlight, is almost black in shade, and is an interesting, cool green somewhere in between. Lots of depth for a creme.

Here's what it looks like from further off:Again--it remains green.

Okay, enough logical eloquent speaking. What I really want to do is this:OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG AS;LDFKJWE;OIRUASDF;LKJWAEO;IRUA;SLFDKJW;OEIRUAS;DLFKJA;WOERIU SO PURTY HUR HUR.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Sorry, guys: as soon as I came back to my apartment I slathered my nails in RBL Grunge. Twice. So--late post, but rest assured that I've done this as soon as Grunge started to chip. It's not Grunge's fault. My thumbnail began to flake and crack on its own--my nails have a tendency to do that. It's why I paint to begin with, since they provide a sort of adhesive to keeping my fingertips together. Anyway.

Missha was a Christmas gift from the friend who gave me Dodoclub...I think she likes flower-shaped polishes. When I first got it, I was sort of iffy about the color (I wore, exclusively, pink, and one bottle of black polish, all of which are dead now), but I really like it now! It's a very flattering shade of bronze, and so very Fall.

This is two coats and (some incredibly weak but must finish using) topcoat. Yes, I have bubbles. I also have a non-polished place on that pinky--I screwed up during cleanup. And during application. Sorry, guys. I'm a little busy lately. Anyway--the polish is opaque at two coats, and super super ... glowy. I've taken pictures indoors, in the sun, and at a distance, and I hope you see what I'm trying to say. It emits holy light of its own.

The application is good--I found it kind of difficult to work the brush, which is in an A-line shape I always have a problem with. Other than that, it's great. I love this polish to no end.

ALSO: during that Zoya twitter fiasco, I'd ordered a few extra polishes and was gifted a tiny little 2 oz bottle of Zoya Remove+.... um, BEST REMOVER EVER. So easy. So non-damaging. So expensive, but anything that doesn't take off strings of my nail is good for me! I predict quick disappearance of Remove, and a just-as-quick reordering. Anybody know where I can just find the thing? No? Dang.

ALSO ALSO: Missha is a Korean makeup brand that tries to sell high-quality makeup for way less--I've only heard good reviews so far, so I'm guessing they're decent (haven't used a thing from them, sorry). Their polishes sell for $1.50.

Friday, September 18, 2009

This polish I've had since elementary school-disgusting? Yes, but apparently I couldn't bear to throw it away, hoping that when I have better polish painting skillz than a rabid fifth grader overpainting the hell out of her nails, it might look as beautiful as I'd hoped it would be.

. . . it's not really all the poor fifth grader's fault. The polish is kind of sort of horrid. The color is -really- cool, like a periwinkle with a pink and blue shimmer, and looks like the color of an alien planet on the cover of a science fiction work, but the polish is terrible. It's goopy -and- runny -and- streaky, and nothing I could do changed that. It just sort of dried in that weird, crackled, alien-talon way. My left thumb looked like it had been through a war, it had so many of those deep marks. I suspect that putting on topcoat too soon could have done the damage, but I don't know for sure.

I'll give this poor old polish one more chance, but if it doesn't work out I'm cleaning the bottle and turning something else into a franken. <

This is Rescue Beauty Lounge Grunge, taken and swatched last summer while I was still studying Latin in my apartment. Rescue Beauty Lounge is typically classified as a mushroomy, band-aid-but-better (BABB) color, and one of those super-chic neutrals that have become the IN-THING this Fall.

On me, it looks a little pink--it's not an exact match for my skin tone, obviously, but that's why I like it.

This is two coats--so yes, the polish is very opaque--and has a slight golden shimmer that one does not notice in the bottle although it becomes evident (but difficult to see) on the nail. (In the sun.) I quite like it; it makes the polish really interesting. Oh, and of course, Grunge wears like iron.

Okay. I love this polish. I really do. Out of all the RBLs I bought this summer (and I am in love with ALL OF THEM), Grunge is definitely the favorite. I can wear it anywhere. It looks good with everything. My hands look neat and clean and professional and chic simultaneously. It is synonymous with elegance and sophistication, despite the name. And--even better--despite the elegance, there is something incredibly moody about the color. It's a bit more sullen than your average pink or neutral, and that, I suppose, is where the mushroominess comes in.

I keep perceiving that Grunge looks as though it has a dark base (although it DOESN'T)--like a pink painted over a black. Blow up the pictures and see if you see it, too--and that's yet another reason why I love this color.

I didn't bring it back home with me during the summer, and I kind of sort of deeply wish I did. Sigh. Grunge, I miss you. They should never ever discontinue this color--I can imagine wearing this for the rest of my life without gathering weird looks.

My Notes on July:
It is such an effing beautiful color, isn't it? it's a wonderful way for me to be introduced to the world of blue nail polish, and there's something so strangely wearable about that delicate, shifty, blue-grey color. RBL is supposed to last for -ages-, so I think I'll keep this on until I just -can't- anymore.

Things I noticed: it bubbled a bit, but I'm not surprised since I didn't have hte patience to wait after I shook it. Also, Bikini Bottom takes a long time to dry--what's above is a base, four/five coats, and a topcoat.

Things I love: the color. The flawless, smooth-as-glass, easy application. For the first time I didn't mind putting on all those layers because--gasp--it was FUN. The bottle is beautiful. I also shouldn't type until I know for certain that the nails are dry. But seriously? I need five million of these. Stat. So I can wear this color until the end of my life. I can't stop staring at my hands. Heehee.

Notes Now:

I'm probably not going to buy this again. For one, I'm already half done with the bottle, because it takes four to five coats in order to get that opaque. Too fussy.

For another, yeah. It bubbles. A lot. There are tiny little bubbles on every single nail and since there's so many coats, the bubbles are -layered-. When I remove the polish they start showing themselves in their wonderful, gaping glory. Yuck.

On the plus side it really does wear even more like iron than the rest of the RBLs, but I assume the five to six coats has something to do with it.

So yes. Final verdict: beautiful color, but in no way worth the price. Great summer pedicure color, though.

From here on out, I'm going to be using old swatches I've recorded before (fussy), so bear with me, folks:

This is Recycle. Everybody and their mom has heard about her, and about how awesome, green, wonderful, pigmented, and long-lasting she is.

They're all right.

This is pretty much exactly what surprised me about this shade--that a polish could even live up to the hype that it set is sort of, well, unheard of. Then again, this little beauty is eighteen freaking dollars. Plus shipping.

Then again, I'm seriously in love with everything that is Rescue Beauty Lounge and would gladly pay for quality over quantity. (Teal, Plie, Killa Red, Bruised, I am looking at you.)

Ahem. Anyway.

Basically I'm going to sit here and verify everything everybody else has already verified--the polish is a two-coater, one if you're careful (I'm not); wears for at least a week with a lot of nail abuse; remains green indoors; is surprisingly good with everything in the closet (mine, anyway); practically applies itself; etc. etc. etc.Would I buy this again despite the ridiculous pricing? Yes. And a backup, too.

This is a polish that one of my roommates donated to me since realizing that she didn't love polish as much as she should. I've no idea how old this is--I only know that it came from Taiwan and that it's really, really ridiculously cute.

And that it's glitter.

I don't really wear glitter--mostly because I tend not to wear polishes that are really fussy and difficult to remove in general. I am somewhat fussy by nature, so I remove and repaint each time a chip or dent occurs, and glitters make things difficult when it comes to the removing bit.

But I'm wearing glitter now, and this polish is truly something gorgeous:Dodoclub, in the shade. Note the sparkly.Dodoclub, in the sun.

It's basically a sheer peach cream with silver microglitter. For an old, goopy polish, this bottle applies well and dries supremely fast without the assistance of a fast-drying topcoat. And look at it! It's gorgeous--for a glitter, this polish is supremely work appropriate since it gives off the illusion of somewhat sparkly nude nails. It looks like my fingers are sugar-coated. In fact, I'd say this is a great dupe for Diamond Cosmetics' Sweet As Sugar, not that Diamond Cosmetics needs a dupe. The peachy color of the polish helps my fingers look less like the yellow-stained mess they actually are, which is a wonderful plus. Something that keeps getting to me, though, is the visible nail line. I tried my best to get rid of it, and the incessant sparkling that my nails keep doing hides it often, but it's still there. And get this, folks: that above is six--SIX!--coats.

(Aaand this is what I meant by 'dries supremely fast': the polish dries like I put on three coats, instead.)

In any case: beautiful, gorgeous, surprisingly low maintenance (judgment pending since I haven't removed it yet, and I shouldn't have to remove it for at least a week since, oh my god, SIX COATS), and I think I'm becoming a glitter person, you guys.